A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and the contents of the building from the effects of weather, invasion of animals and other undesirable environmental factors. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a single family house to a cathedral or stadium, with dwellings being the most numerous. In most countries, a roof protects the inside of a building primarily against rain. Depending on the nature of the building, the roof may also protect against heat, sunlight, cold, snow and wind.
The construction of a roof is determined by its method of support, how the underneath space is bridged, and whether or not the roof is pitched. The pitch is the angle at which the roof rises from its lowest point to its highest point. Most domestic architecture in the United States, except in very dry regions, has roofs that are sloped, or pitched. Roofs are sometimes pitched for reasons of tradition and aesthetics but have traditionally been pitched so that rainwater runs off the roof and does not collect on the roof. Sometimes, modern construction elements such as drainpipes remove the need for pitching of roofs.
A rain gutter is a narrow channel, or trough, forming a component of a roof system that collects and diverts rainwater shed by the roof. The main purpose of a rain gutter is to protect a building's foundation by channeling water away from its base. The gutter also helps to reduce erosion, prevents leaks in basements and crawlspaces, and protects painted or stained surfaces by reducing exposure to water, and provides a means to collect rainwater for later use. Many buildings are built with rain gutters installed around the edges of the building's roof. However, in some cases, a rain gutter is not pre-installed, and rain water being displaced off the edge of a roof without being collected or channeled away from the edge of the roof may result in undesirable effects, such as water damage or nuisance cause by roof rain water falling off the roof onto electrical components such as an air conditioning unit, walkways, people, gardens, or other items beneath the roof line that are desired to be protected from the falling water.
Current roof rainwater diverting systems must be installed during the construction phase of the building or at the time of a reroofing operation in order to adequately seal the inner construction of the building against water intrusion into the disturbed roof area. In a residential home, for instance, a contractor must often be hired in order to install said rainwater diverting systems due to the knowledge and skills required, and cost is a prohibitive factor when a contractor has to install the rainwater diverting system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for diverting roof rainwater runoff that can be cheaply, easily, and permanently installed by nearly any homeowner to divert rainwater as desired without requiring special tools or experience, and without the need to disturb or modify existing roofing components.